Daily Archives: August 4, 2011

Pará: Brazil’s rough-edged jewel

August 4, 2011 10:30 pm by beyondbrics

Share this on

By Iona Teixeira Stevens and Joe Leahy in Altamira

When people talk about tourism in Brazil, most think of the beaches near Salvador, the carnival in Rio de Janeiro or a boat tour in the central Amazon.

Outlying regions, such as the northern Amazon region state of Pará, on the other hand usually only attract unwanted attention for their high rates of deforestation, land conflict and other environmental issues, such as the construction of dams. Yet the state, which is bigger than Angola, is a rough-edged jewel with plenty of potential for tourism. Continue reading »

Tags: beyondbrics on the beach, tourism Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

Brazilian equities: hammer time

August 4, 2011 9:07 pm by Samantha Pearson

Share this on

Investors fled high-risk assets worldwide on Thursday, but they ran screaming from Brazilian equities.

The country’s Bovespa stock index dropped as much as 6 per cent in early afternoon trade to a two-year low – the worst performance among the world’s main equity indices tracked by Bloomberg. Continue reading »

Tags: equities Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

China ups presence in Argentina with Standard Bank deal

August 4, 2011 8:28 pm by beyondbrics

Share this on

By Jude Webber and Simon Rabinovitch and Richard Stovin-Bradford

In its 2010 results presentation last May, China’s ICBC, which prides itself on being both the world’s largest listed bank and the most profitable, showed this slide of its global operations.

The red dots and flags on the slide (entitled International Strategy: Stronger global service capacity) illustrated the bank’s overseas interests, including 203 institutions in 28 countries and regions, from Canada to Australia, South Africa to Russia. But Latin America was glaringly empty.

No longer. ICBC has agreed to buy 80 per cent of the Argentine operations of South Africa’s Standard Bank for $600m. Continue reading »

Tags: banking, China-Argentina, China-Latin America, M&A Posted in Argentina, Asia, China, LatAm | Permalink

Colombia to Brazil: where’s the trade?

August 4, 2011 7:00 pm by Naomi Mapstone

Share this on

For all the talk of south-south investment flows, some of Latin America’s strongest economies are finding it easier to access Chinese, American or European consumers than Brazilian ones.

Colombia, which shares a 1,950km Amazon border with Brazil, is a case in point. Continue reading »

Posted in Brazil, Colombia, LatAm | Permalink

Czechs shop ’til they drop? Not

August 4, 2011 6:00 pm by Ivana Kottasová

Share this on

Czechs are staying away from the shops. The retail sales fell 3.5 per cent year-on-year in June, raising concerns among analysts, who were widely expecting a 0.5 per cent growth.

And it’s not just the analysts who are worried either. Following the disappointing data, the central bank kept the key interest rates flat at a record low 0.75 per cent. It also said any interest rate hike will likely be postponed until early 2012. Continue reading »

Tags: monetary policy, retail Posted in Czech Republic, Europe | Permalink

Turkey blows it

August 4, 2011 5:23 pm by Jonathan Wheatley

Share this on

What on earth is going on in Turkey? That is a polite way of putting the question reverberating around financial markets on Thursday after the central bank’s shock reduction in its policy interest rate, from 6.25 to 5.75 per cent a year.

“They’ve been sailing dangerously close to the wind for a long time,” Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Sovereign Strategy told beyondbrics. “Their strategy was always unconventional but a lot of us were prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now, in terms of inflation-fighting credentials, they’ve blown it. This undermines everything they’ve been doing for the past six months.” Continue reading »

Tags: central banks, inflation, interest rates Posted in Europe, Turkey | Permalink

Hungary: crime and punishment

August 4, 2011 4:30 pm by Kester Eddy

Share this on

For a man facing the potential threat of criminal prosecution, Ferenc Gyurcsany, Hungary’s prime minister from 2004-2009, is a remarkably nonchalant chap.

“I’m absolutely [relaxed]. In the last 10 years I’ve been permanently and heavily attacked by my political rivals, mainly Fidesz. I’ve learned to handle, to wear this political burden. I can sleep well. I’m reading the famous Dostoyevsky book Bűn és bűnhődés, what is that in English? [Crime and Punishment],” he tells beyondbrics. Continue reading »

Tags: Gyurcsany, Hungarian politics, politics Posted in Europe, Hungary | Permalink

Indian football – rising from cricket’s ashes?

August 4, 2011 2:54 pm by Mehreen Khan

Share this on

With its cricketing fortunes seemingly on the wane, now seems as good a time as any for India to jump on a lucrative football bandwagon. This is exactly the plan of the West Bengal division of the Indian Football Association, which aims to revolutionise domestic football by setting up a money-spinning league for the beautiful game.

The Premier League Soccer (PLS) is inspired by the hugely successful Indian Premier League (IPL), whose Twenty20 tournament has turned Indian cricket into big business since its launch in 2008. Continue reading »

Tags: sports Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

Russia: where Ponzi schemes roam

August 4, 2011 1:45 pm by beyondbrics

Share this on

By Ben Aris in Moscow, Business New Europe

The more things change, the more they stay the same? Nearly two decades after Sergei Mavrodi swindled millions of Russians out of their life savings through his notorious MMM pyramid scheme, fraudsters continue to operate with relative impunity in the country.

That is according to Igor Kostikov, the former chairman of the stock market regulator, who says pyramid schemes masquerading as investment funds remain widespread in Russia. Continue reading »

Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

New York headlines

August 4, 2011 11:50 am by beyondbrics

Share this on

* Turkey surprises with rate cut

* Rio warns on commodities outlook

* Ferrexpo considers expanding out of Ukraine

* S Africa agrees bail-out loan for Swaziland

* Shell’s Nigeria pay-out could top £250m Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

[snap]: Turkey surprises with rate cut

August 4, 2011 11:33 am by beyondbrics

Share this on

Turky’s central bank startled markets by cutting its key repo interest rate on Thursday to a record low of 5.75 per cent a year, in a further test of the ability of its unorthodox monetary policy to insulate Turkey from the turmoil gripping its near neighbours. Continue reading »

Tags: central banks, interest rates Posted in Europe, Turkey | Permalink

Will tourists return to the Swat valley?

August 4, 2011 10:56 am by Farhan Bokhari

Share this on

Step one, achieved in late 2009, was getting the Taliban out of the Swat valley and reasserting control from Islamabad. Step two – in this spectacular haven of lush pastures beneath towering mountains near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan – will be to get the tourist business humming again.

Given the widespread fear that remnants of the Taliban will try to take charge again one day, maintaining calm is a tall order. A revival of domestic tourism would be a major step towards restoring confidence. Continue reading »

Tags: beyondbrics on the beach, tourism Posted in Asia, Pakistan | Permalink

Tudou IPO: proceed with caution

August 4, 2011 10:35 am by Kathrin Hille

Share this on

From a pure business perspective, there could be no better time for Tudou to go public.

The Chinese online video company can point to rapid growth of its audience – it now has 200m monthly unique visitors, 41 per cent of the world’s largest internet population, up from just 50m four years ago. But from a market perspective, the timing may be a little less fortunate. Continue reading »

Tags: China tech, internet Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

London headlines

August 4, 2011 6:06 am by beyondbrics

Share this on

* US hardens its tone against Syria

* S Africa agrees bail-out loan for Swaziland

* Shell’s Nigeria pay-out could top £250m

* Arctic ice melt near record clears ship route to Asia, Russian agency says

* India’s Biyani looks for foreign partner Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

beyondbrics

Daily Archives: August 4, 2011

Pará: Brazil’s rough-edged jewel

Brazilian equities: hammer time

China ups presence in Argentina with Standard Bank deal

Colombia to Brazil: where’s the trade?

Czechs shop ’til they drop? Not

Turkey blows it

Hungary: crime and punishment

Indian football – rising from cricket’s ashes?

Russia: where Ponzi schemes roam

New York headlines

[snap]: Turkey surprises with rate cut

Further reading: street food

Will tourists return to the Swat valley?

Tudou IPO: proceed with caution

London headlines

Global equities macromap

Most popular posts

Recently commented

Number of the day

beyondbrics

The emerging markets hub

BB shortcuts

beyondbrics team

Regional teams:

Emerging markets data

Archive

What we are writing about

What we’re reading